A vehicle navigation system may allow a driver of the vehicle to set a destination. A current position detector may detect a current position of the vehicle. Thus, the destination and the current position of the vehicle may be set. A route from the current position to the destination may then be searched for. Route navigation/guidance may be performed along the route detected in the searching process. In the route searching process, a route that is the shortest in distance from the current position to the destination or a route that is the shortest in time needed to reach the destination is selected.
The vehicle navigation system may receive traffic information, such as, road congestion information, so that a suitable route may be searched to avoid a congested area. An area including the route is logically divided by operation of a grid square system into sections. A server searches for a plurality of routes and distributes traffic information to the navigation system regarding each section. Thus, the navigation system searches for a route that is shortest in necessary time after receiving the traffic information.